Over the past several years in particular, there has been an increasing concern about the level of pollution in the atmosphere, as well as attempts of various kinds for atmospheric remediation. According to the World Health Organization, it is estimated that approximately 5 million people die each year due to various causes related to atmospheric pollution. Thus, atmospheric pollution is one of the world's largest environmental health risks.
Environmental regulations restrict the emissions of many of the most hazardous pollutants including sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, mercury and particulate matter. A number of remediation methods have been developed in order to reduce various emissions to within the limits permitted by the regulations. One promising method for reducing atmospheric pollution uses ionization as a means to remove harmful atmospheric pollutants.
Various techniques and apparatus are known in the art for modifying atmospheric conditions through ionization. Further, ionization technologies are thought to be less environmentally hazardous than introducing chemical agents or other technologies that require fossil fuels. For example, ionizers may be used to effectively change convective flows of ionized air in the atmosphere over a targeted surface area This ionization may further change atmospheric water and water vapor to alter local conditions with little negative environmental impact.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,912,396 to Wong, discloses a system and corresponding method for remediation of atmospheric pollution by producing a large amount of electrical charge using an emitter electrode. The ionization means is positioned in a selected region of space, so as to make the large volume of electrical charges available in a given volume. Consequently, the atmospheric pollutants in the given volume are neutralized resulting in the remediation of the given volume.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,961,651 to Gokturk discloses an apparatus and corresponding method of reducing pollutants in a flue gas by providing electrons to convert the pollutants with positive electron affinity to negative ions. Thus, the charged pollutants can attract other pollutants with dipole properties to form clusters of pollutants. The pollutants may then be separated from the rest of the flue gas using electric and magnetic fields.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,988,847 B2 to Bologurov et al., discloses an apparatus comprising an air ionizer, where a shielding electrode, an emitting electrode and an extracting electrode are arranged in a parallel way. Then, then electrodes may be directed to targeted angles of inclination to generate convective flows and/or spatial charges in a controlled way to affect atmospheric conditions.
However, the above prior art lacks a method to mimic or replicate natural atmospheric remediation. Thus, there is a need in the art for a system and corresponding method that provide a green solution to replicate the natural processes to clean the air. The system and method also may capture atmospheric pollution rather than transferring pollutants to other parts of the ecosystem.